Baking

I have been baking up a storm this year! Every two weeks I have been baking double batches of Wookiee Cookies and sharing them with the AWESOME guys who work on our vehicles. If you know my husband and how hard he is on his vehicle you would agree that these guys deserve to be absolutely spoiled with baked goods. ;-)

This week I will be doing cupcakes from scratch. I do mean from the bottom up which includes homemade frosting. Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and conversation hearts on top for Valentine's Day is what I am making. Hopefully they turn out good. I am not worried about the cupcakes themselves but I have never done frosting before. I might make a single batch tomorrow to test them before I make them for our ODSJ potluck on Tuesday.

I will try to report back and post pictures of the results. Then next weekend I shall be once again baking cookies. The kids LOVE this new baker that I have discovered within myself.

So here are my brownies. I use the Bossk Brownie recipe from the Star Wars cookbook as a base and I have been experimenting with different additions. So far I have done milk and dark chocolate, semi-sweet and white chocolate, Andies mint chips and milk chocolate, and my latest is milk chocolate and peanut butter chips. I like them all but the peanut butter was my favorite. Here is a picture of my latest brownies.

On a recent trip to Tanger Outlet Mall I stopped in to Kitchen Collections and picked up a silicone baking mat. Woah buddy, I need another one of those. It makes the cookies so much easier to deal with when taking them off the pan. I do not need to spray the spatula or anything. So here is a picture of my Wookiee Cookies on the new mat.

Please ignore my dirty stove. I always clean it after the baking is all done. I enjoy letting all my frustrations go while scrubbing the crap out of my stove.

Oh and if you are wondering what Wookiee Cookies are, basically they are chocolate chip cookies with 2 types on chocolate chips (milk & Semi Sweet) and cinnamon. The cinnamon is what makes all the difference, I think.

Anyway, if I don't go to bed soon I might not make it there. Sweet dreams everyone!

2 AM

Good golly, I really hate insomnia. I feel like every nerve in my body is a live wire tonight.

It is extremely odd to have all 4 boys here all night on a Sunday. I figure getting ready for school tomorrow morning will be chaos. Beautiful chaos. I enjoy having the boys here. I love having them all close.

Another week begins for us. I have school and must begin researching my topic for Advanced Writing this week. It should be fun to learn more about Veterans, PTSD, & Substance Abuse.

In other news, my group and I went to The Queen of Queens contest the other night. What fun! Drag queens are awesome and incredibly hard working. There was a ton of talent in that building and the environment was very supportive. This was a dry run for us so I hope to have pictures to post here once we go to the next one. FUNFUNFUN!

Have a great week everyone!

Reflections of NASA

The end of January and beginning of February marks the anniversaries of NASA tragedies. I think the people involved with these tragedies will never forget where they were when it happened. I always like to pause and remember the heroes who died in the pursuit of knowledge of the unknown. It takes a lot of balls to go in search of the answers when the known danger level is high. I have a special place in my heart for the astronauts who were lost in Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia.

Apollo 1 touched my heart because of the way things went down. After watching 'From the Earth to the Moon' with my husband and hearing him talk about LOTS of NASA stuff, I really admired Gus Grissom. He seemed like a guy that you would want to have lunch with and just listen to him talk. When I found out he, Ed White, & Roger Chaffee had perished in Apollo 1, I was very sad. Fortunately, some good lessons came out of the tragedy.

RIP guys!

Challenger was completely different for me. I was in the 3rd grade and we were watching the launch live. Remember those days when NASA was beloved instead of shoved under the rug? Yeah me too. Anyway, interestingly enough I would end up going to High School with Ellison Onizuka's daughter. Challenger still horrifies me. Not that all of the loss of life does not but I was literally watching these wonderful people die, I didn't understand it in 3rd grade. My son, C, is in 3rd grade. I think he would grasp it better than I did but that is because we would have discussed it. Not that my Mother was against discussing it, but she was busy with work and Uncle Sam doesn't usually pause for tragedy. (Except 9/11) I find it wonderfully fascinating though that even today the families (most) of these astronauts (and teacher) are not anti-NASA at all. They all understood the risks taken by their family member.

God bless you all and Godspeed.

The shuttle Challenger flight STS-51L crew members who died January 28, 1986. In the back row, from left, mission specialist Ellison S. Onizuka, Teacher in Space Participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist Greg Jarvis and Mission specialist Judy Resnik. In the front row, from left, Pilot Mike Smith, Commander Dick Scobee, and Mission specialist Ron McNair.

And finally, Columbia. WOW. That was a completely different period of my life. I had gotten up a little early that day to have a chat with the guy I was dating (and married) who was living in East Texas to my Houston. He was right there watching when NASA lost communication with Columbia. His Dad was some big NASA guy and he always kept up with that stuff. It was one of the things I liked about him seeing as I have always been a fan of the Shuttle program myself and I have come to appreciate the other programs in the last decade.
By the time I had gotten home from work that evening I had seen, talked to, and hugged many faces of the space program who waited in Mission Control desperately hoping the loss of communication with Columbia was just a glitch. It still haunts my husband that he heard the boom when Columbia re-entered the atmosphere over East Texas. Columbia is the tragedy that sticks out for him the most.

The seven crew members who died aboard this final mission were: Rick Husband, Commander; William C. McCool, Pilot; Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander; David M. Brown, Mission Specialist 1; Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist 2; Laurel Clark, Mission Specialist 4; and Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist 1

The Space Shuttle program will always be MY program. :-) It was the vehicle of the space program of my lifetime. My hope is to see another space craft fly in my lifetime. In a perfect world, no one else would have to sacrifice their lives to make it happen. No matter what, I will always support NASA and the work that they are doing. I only hope that the next craft is as beautiful as the Shuttle was to watch launch, fly, and come home. I watched every launch and every return after we lost Columbia and I shared in the apprehension and joy that every member (and every fan) of NASA that went with it until that bird was back on the ground.

Late last year I took my kids to see Shuttle Endeavor as it made its pause in Houston for the last time. The kids were hungry and hot, the crowds were intense, and the traffic was murder but the experience was worth it. As I stood there so very close to that Shuttle, I remembered going to see them as a little girl on my Dad's shoulders. I remembered the horror or watching the Challenger explosion, the sinking feeling when we lost communication with Columbia, and finally all of the times that the school pulled annoying fire alarms to make us go out and watch the shuttle fly over. I longed for the days of those fire alarms. I stood in the shadow of a giant with my (bitchy) kids in awe and didn't want to leave her. I felt like a left a piece of myself with Endeavor. It sounds dramatic but the end of the shuttle program was the end of a piece of me because it was so very much a part of my life growing up near NASA.

To my dearest NASA, good luck and Godspeed! We are watching to see what you do next and anticipating greatness. (If we can retain politicians that support you)

Dropping in for a quickie...

So, I was accepted into the Social Work program on December 17, 2012. I am excited and scared and ready to go all at the same time.

I have begun a full load for Spring that consists of Abnormal Psychology, Oppression, Diversity & Social Justice, History of Social Policy, and Advanced Writing. WOO. LOTS of writing included in this semester.

I may be able to keep up with some things, but please forgive my lack of blogging. I am either studying, sleeping, baking, or cleaning. :-)

Much love to all!

Happy New Year!

Well well, welcome 2013.

2012 was interesting.

-Near the end I got the confirmation of my admission to the BSW program so it is official now.

-I made some fantastic new friends! Some of them I might never meet in person and some of them I will move heaven and earth to meet.

-I learned a lot about myself following a rough summer and almost losing an important person in my life.

-Also I learned that most people could benefit from therapy.

-Messing with my kids brings out the warrior in me and she has anger issues.


-I have the best family (including my fictive kin) in the world.

-My kids are growing up too fast.

-Music is a great way to change my mood.

3 days in to 2013

-Some people need electric shock therapy.

-I have developed a rather bad case of insomnia.

-I love playing games with the kids on the Wii more than I thought I would.

-Kids are still resistant to cleaning their room.

-My loving husband is still a pain in my ass. (and I am a pain in his.)

-Blogging is fun but not therapeutic unless it is anonymous. Having to worry that my kids will stumble on this page makes it hard to be completely honest.


Hopes for 2013

-Continued success in the education department for everyone.

-Loss of some of this weight that has snuck back over the past year.

-I have decided to continue to keep my hair red until the effort becomes overwhelming to too expensive. (I get the stuff from Sally's and my Mom helps apply it so it is doable)

-Continue to develop new friendships and nurture the others.

-Find an acceptable Rheumatologist.

-Keep my GPA up.

-Laugh at least once a day.

-Make someone else laugh at least once a day.

-Learn!

SO, I hope that you have a wonderful 2013 as well and that all of your healthy (not necessarily physically healthy) resolutions come true!

Semester #1

DONE!

I am still waiting on my grades. It looks like it may be Monday before I know them for sure but I know I passed everything. What a busy freaking semester it was too. I really had many weeks when I didn't know if I was coming or going.

Reflections on my 1st FULL semester @ UHCL-

1. This was a HUGE culture shock for me. MUCH different than going to COM and it clobbered me. I really have to step it up to keep my grades up there.

2. APA is very confusing. I know that the more I use it, the easier it gets but dang.

3. The BSW program is FULL of AWESOME people. It was a kick to see some of my classmates from my summer Ethics Class in my Intro to Social Work Class.

4. I am going to know these people very well by Spring 2015.

5. I LOVE volunteering. I am not able to do so over the holidays because of having the kiddos home but it is very cool. I did a food drive with Bay Area Turning Point and it was AWESOME soul food!

6. Parking SUCKS. Good for me getting exercise though. I just have to make sure I get there with enough time to hike to class. :-)

7. Whoever talked about the Freshman 15 (lbs) did NOT transfer from a community college to a university. There is food for sale almost daily. A lot of it is donation or super cheap. It is super yummy. Bake sales are always going on and hard to resist.

8. The Sugar Free Mocha from Java City in the Bayou Bldg is excellent and much cheaper than Starbucks. Just keep this is mind for your early morning or night classes. I will see them a lot as I have class from 4 pm- 10 pm one night a week next semester.

9. The campus is freaking nice. Of course, it backs up to the nature center so...DUH! The boys freaked out when the deer came about 30 feet from us and stopped.

10. There is ALWAYS something going on there. UHCL has numerous events that are low cost or free. They put on one hell of a Welcome Back Bash in the Fall. There are movies that you can see. I can bring the family for free with my ID. The people are great. I cannot wait to see what happens in the Spring.


Now, everyone PLEASE cross your fingers, toss salt, or even say a prayer that Spring is less hectic personally for me than fall was. I had emergency gall bladder removal surgery the Wednesday before classes started and then had to have another STAT procedure during midterms. Thankfully, I had AWESOME professors who understood that I needed to get these two things done. Also, the kids got sick more than usual with weird crap that they usually do not catch. Plan for the Spring semester is Lysol, vitamin c, and lots of TLC. :-)


I hope to keep up with this better but I give you no guarantee.

For now, I am going to put on some fuzzy, warm pjs and relax on the couch until I am tired because it is break time baby!

Poultry Divan

We do not have the big boys for Thanksgiving this year so we celebrated with them early. It is a good thing that we love turkey in this house because we will go to my Mom's for Thanksgiving and have leftovers from that too. So on to the best part.... the leftovers!

Tonight's recipe came to us as Chicken Divan, but we usually make it with leftover turkey meat. We made it with chicken once and it was dry. My suggestion is that you make it with dark meat since it is usually more moist. Also, you can healthify this recipe if you wish. (Yes, I am aware that healthify is not an actual word.)

So here it is in my oven:

Divan Recipe:

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

3 whole chicken breasts ( or equivalent in poultry meat of your choice)
2 pkgs frozen broccoli (I used 1 pkg 24 oz florets)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (you can substitute fat free)
1 cup mayo (can sub low fat or fat free but must be MAYONNAISE)
8 oz sour cream (again fat free could be used)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I use cheddar jack because the hubby doesn't like cheddar)
1 tsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Simmer Chicken breasts in salted water. (Since I am usually using leftover meat, I can skip this step.) Cook broccoli to package directions. In bowl mix soup, sour cream, mayo, seasonings, cheddar cheese. In a 13x9 greased pan add broccoli, poultry meat, and parmesean cheese. Cover with sauce and top with cheese. I mix a little cheddar and parm on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.

YUMMY stuff!!

I have never tried to healthify this recipe so I cannot testify to the difference in taste. We probably only have it once a year so I don't worry about it much.

Our turkey meat is courtesy on Jerry the turkey. Yes, we name the turkey. it is an old tradition. If we are going to be reaching around in, cleaning out, and stuffing the turkey we should at least be on a first name basis.

Here is Jerry before I began basting and browning him.

We had a wonderful dinner with all of our kids and celebrated being a family. For me, cooking for the boys is a way to show them what they mean to me. I put my all into cooking tasty and nutritious meals for my family. It was a lot of work but very worth it to see their smiles. I hope you all can slow down and enjoy your family this month as much as possible.

School is extremely busy and I am volunteering once a week with a local organization that does awesome work in the community, so I haven't been around much. I will try and remedy that. Take Care!